Timeless
by beatlesfan16
Summary: Because 500 years is a long time. (A series of stories and drabbles about Noel and Hope, and their friendship. Takes place after FFXIII-2 and leads up to Lightning Returns.)


The toll of bells is deafening in his ears. They ring in solemn finalization.

The goddess is dead. And Noel Kreiss had killed her.

He thought everything had been ok. He thought he had saved the goddess and saved the future. He and Serah had done everything they could think of to correct the timeline. Yet, everything had been for naught. No matter how hard they had tried, the countless times they had traveled back and forth throughout history, throughout vastly different eras and paradoxes, they had been only distorting reality.

In a moment of weakness, Noel wishes he was dead.

His mouth opens in horror as he watches Serah get snatched by the darkness. Noel reaches down desperately to scoop her up once more into his arms. It's too late though. She is no longer there. Tears fall from his eyes, for the last thing to have given him the courage to go on was gone.

The chaos of Valhalla is warping the world, casting shadows upon everything it sees. The darkness is cruel and cold. It whips viciously against his skin, seeping down into his very bones and making him numb. He can't see or feel. He can only hear the bells. With every ring he is reminded of Yeul. Of Caius and his failures. And Serah. The one who always believed in him. Who had died because of his sins.

Academia is swallowed whole, replaced by the ominous and empty city of Valhalla. The mayhem and darkness is everywhere and it's oppressing, choking him , corroding him, destroying him from the inside out. Noel can't think any longer He doesn't want to either. He has nothing else to live for. So he closes his eyes, succumbing to the chaos.

He's almost gone when suddenly he hears something. It's almost inaudible and incredibly loud at the same time. A sharp intake of breath jolts him to open his eyes to see Hope looking at him in concern.

"Noel!"

The director reaches out for him, but he's too far away. Hope valiantly tries to overcome the winds and darkness to get to Noel; the chaos won't let him, being too strong and pushing the man closer to the edge. A tremor wracks the airship violently. Hope tries to catch his balance. He grabs for something to cling on and finds nothing. Hope begins to fall.

Their eyes meet as he is falling. Light green clash with blue-violet and Noel can see every emotion in those truthful eyes. He sees sorrow and regret. Confusion and disbelief. Most of all, he sees 's fear is what awakens him once again. He had never seen Hope afraid. It's a fear he doesn't want to see on his friend's face.

_His friend._

Noel chides himself. There had he been, wishing for death because he thought he had no one left. How could he have been so blind? He has Hope. And he wasn't going to lose him.

"Hope!"

The hunter springs into action to catch the silver-haired man. He pushes through the winds of chaos and at the last second, catches Hope's hand. With a sudden strength, he pulls Hope to him before the man can fall down into the abyss below.

Hope crashes into him and they hit the airship hard. Noel's head is throbbing and his body is pulsing with pain; he pushes away his discomforts to wrap his arms around Hope, shielding him from Valhalla's curse.

Hope ducks his head, doing his best to try to protect the little moogle he is holding. Mog is tucked to his chest by his left arm, and with his right he grasps Noel tightly to protect him too. Noel doesn't know how long they stay like this. The wind roars in their ears for what feels like an eternity. And then, it's over.

Noel lets go of Hope, standing up slowly. Hope follows suit and stands beside him. Together, they see a world they don't recognize.

Time has stopped.

* * *

A/N: So this will be a series of little stories and drabbles about Noel and Hope before LR:FFXIII happens. I casually ship them, but really more than anything I think they would have great bromance going on given the time, so "Timeless" will be about about Noel and Hope's _friendship_. I've written a few more stories and I think they will be in chronological order, meaning like it one happens a few months after FFXIII-2 and the next one is like a year after and so on. I don't know how long this will last or how many stories I will put it in. Maybe till Lightning Returns is out? Who knows? :)


End file.
